Driver keeps going after hitting alligator in Florida — then finds it still under car
A tourist visiting Florida ran over a 7-foot alligator near the Everglades — and then found it “attached” to the underside of his car.
It happened around 2 a.m. Sunday, April 17, on U.S. 41 between Naples and Everglades City, and the terrified motorist reportedly kept driving out of fear the gator was still alive.
Tow truck driver Joshua Schroeder of United States Transport Towing & Recovery says OnStar didn’t mention an alligator when he was called to help a “broken down” motorist on the section of the highway in Collier County.
“So I drop my boom and look out the back window of the truck and notice I can’t see one of the wheels of the car,” Schroeder told McClatchy News.
Warning: The following images are graphic.
“I got out and looked and saw a 7-foot alligator was wrapped around the wheel,” he continued. “It had gotten impaled by the car. And it was so far up in there that I had to tow the car with the alligator still attached.”
The identity of the driver was not released. He is from New York and was visiting his parents in the area when the alligator “came out of nowhere,” Schroeder said.
“He was scared, and who wouldn’t be? When you hit an alligator, the first thing you think is: Is it still alive and is it angry at you,” Schroeder said.
“My first instinct was to wonder if it was still alive and I took precautions. When it’s dark like that, the last thing you want to do is go looking underneath your vehicle for an alligator.”
The troubles did not end there, Schroeder said.
Arrangements were made for United States Transport Towing & Recovery to take the vehicle to a Chevy dealership in Naples, but they refused to accept it with an alligator attached, he said. A body shop turned the vehicle away for the same reason.
“The gator got a 31-mile ride for free on the tow truck,” Schroeder said.
As of April 20, the car was still sitting at the towing company’s lot, waiting for someone to accept it, he said.
“We ended up cutting the alligator out, but there’s still pieces up in there,” Schroeder said. “It took about two hours. The car has a smell.”
This story was originally published April 20, 2022 at 2:11 PM with the headline "Driver keeps going after hitting alligator in Florida — then finds it still under car."